Corvallis, OR
(97333)

Today

Tonight

A Confederate flag hangs in The Pillar, a men's co-op, across the street from the Oregon State University campus in September. The owner of The Pillar has filed an eviction complaint against Andrew Oswalt, the resident of the room where the flag was displayed.

Landlord files eviction complaint against Andrew Oswalt

A Confederate flag hangs in The Pillar, a men's co-op, across the street from the Oregon State University campus in September. The owner of The Pillar has filed an eviction complaint against Andrew Oswalt, the resident of the room where the flag was displayed.

An Oregon State University student who has been displaying a Confederate flag in a window inside his room at an off-campus residence is facing possible eviction.

The landlord for The Pillar, which is located at 2323 NW Monroe Ave., filed an eviction complaint against Andrew Oswalt last week.

The property is owned by the Oregon Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God and managed by Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. The top two floors of The Pillar, where Oswalt lives, are a men’s co-op that is unaffiliated with Chi Alpha and nonreligious in nature, according to Chi Alpha.

The complaint, filed Feb. 27 in Benton County Circuit Court, states the landlord is entitled to possession of the property because of personal injury, substantial damage, extremely outrageous act or unlawful occupant. The complaint alleges Oswalt utilized his rental unit “as the staging area for an intimidation campaign against Corvallis community members.” The complaint asserts Oswalt is in violation of a state law against intimidation.

Across the street from The Pillar is OSU’s Black Cultural Center, located at 100 SW Memorial Place.

Oswalt is facing a criminal intimidation charge for allegedly placing racist stickers last year on cars belonging to members of a group called Showing Up for Racial Justice.

Salem attorney Matthew Shepard is representing Oswalt in the eviction matter. Corvallis attorney Andrew Noonan is representing the Oregon Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God. Both attorneys appeared in court Wednesday, during which time the case was set for a hearing at 8:30 a.m. on March 19. Oswalt was not present during the hearing.

In a motion filed by Shepard following the hearing, the attorney asks for the court to dismiss the eviction complaint. Shepard argues that the complaint is deficient because it lacks specific claims.

Some of Shepard’s arguments include that the complaint does not state any dates for the alleged acts of intimidation. The attorney also asserts that the term “staging area” means a place where people or things are assembled for some action or event, and the complaint therefore fails to allege that Oswalt engaged in acts of intimidation at the property.

Lillian Schrock covers public safety for the Gazette-Times. She may be reached at 541-758-9548 or lillian.schrock@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter at @LillieSchrock.

If you look at the Linn or Marion County jail roster websites, occasionally there's inmates with the letters "IPS" tattooed on the sides of their necks. IPS is a white supremacist prison gang here in Oregon, and a lot of them look pretty ambiguous racially. I've even seen a couple with Hispanic last names.

If you read the on-line letters to the editor blogs you learn very quickly there are a lot of folks that don't live in a reality based emotional/mental state. Exactly how we get people like Oswalt and a clown president like Trump.

That flag represents the Confederate American Soldiers and Sailors that fought and many died when called upon, by their States, to take up arms defending their families, friends, and neighbors from an illegal invading army.

Whether in a cemetery or in a descendant’s window that flag should only be displayed when honoring those men or one’s relation to the men and women of the South. I don't presume to know whether or not Mr. Oswalt is misusing the Southern Cross, but there is no basis to evict someone for displaying an American flag.

Amen and we must heal Americans with respect and truth of our bitter American history- I mean Oregon’s ORIGINAL State Constitution made it ILLEGAL for People of Color to reside there- 39 lashings??! So be respectful of All history!

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.